They were related, though probably rather distantly. They were both members of the gens Cornelia, one of the biggest and most prominent patrician families in Rome. Over the course of the Republic they produced at least 75 consuls and were almost always counted among the first families of Rome.

However they were from different branches of the family. Scipio being from the Scipiones branch and Sulla from the Sulla branch. The gens Cornelia had over a dozen cognomens, each one associated with a particular branch.